Friends, Family, and Yehudi...

...I knew that the title would have you crinkle your nose with that bewildered look of, "huh?" I wonder what he's talking about now?? Sometimes a good piece of writing starts with the cleverity of the title...and oh yeah, cleverity is a new word. I shall petition Webster to add it to the next rev of the dictionary...(well, i'll save that for another time).

Today was a very long day...and it still isn't over. I woke up around 4:45am to get ready for a trip up to Aggieland. Every semester the senior Aerospace Engineering Students put on a CDR (Critical Design Review) for persons of industry (me). Well, i'm not the only one there, but you get the idea. Essentially, the senior's get to present their semester's worth of work on the design of an aircraft, rocket, or satellite. It is a chance for the seniors to get dressed up in suits and "practice" presenting critical data in front of people that can be critical. For some, this is their first time presenting in this fashion, and it shows. For others, it is a time to put forth the confidence of their studies and prove to persons of industry (some of whom have hiring power) why they would be a good candidate for that new opening. It is a great chance for us former students to go back and see it from "the other side of the fence." It's also a good time to mingle with the students and present them with some ideas of real world questions and concerns based on their designs. It is also a good chance for us former students to see our old professors and chat with them about the latest goings-on. Everybody wins...it's a great program that i hope to make every semester...time and schedule permitting.

I had fun today. This semester's crop of students were really good. I saw a lot of good things from those students and the tells me that the program at Texas A&M is still, if not better than, as great as it was when i was there. It's also good to see more space related stuff being thrown into the mix.

So the morning and most of the afternoon was spent watching, critiquing, eating, mingling, and reliving old times in the H.R. Bright building...my old stomping grounds. It was good to see some of my old professors again. I also learned that one of my professors had passed away about 3 or 4 weeks ago. This will be a separate post.

Knowing that i would be in College Station for the day, i called up an old friend from high school that i have not seen in many many years. Luckily she was available to chat for a bit. I went over to Kimberly's (formerly Nawara, now Winslow) office and chatted about the goings-on in our lives. I imagine it has been 10 or more years since i've seen her. We had a good chat. It was good to see her again. I told her to start reading my blogs...Hello Kim. So, that completes the Friends portion of the title.

Also, I thought I'd take my little cousin, Kristine, out for dinner. She's currently a student at Texas A&M and I haven't seen her in quite some time. Luckily, she was able work me into her schedule. We ate at this joint called "Boston's Aggieland." Pretty swanky little place with some really good food. We talked about all the goings-on in our lives. Yep, i have managed to use the word "goings-on" three times in this post. I had fun. I learned something about myself tonight that i hadn't heard before (or perhaps i heard, but didn't remember). Unfortunately, i'm going to make you wait for that one. Well, i hope to see you at Christmas, Kristine. If not then, then perhaps next semester when i return to Aggieland? Or i'm sure there will be other opportunities. Thanks for making time for me. Ok, that takes care of the Family part of the title.

Yehudi, Yehudi, Yehudi....what the hell is a Yehudi? I'm glad you asked. Believe it or not, it is an aircraft component. I was reminded of this word at today's presentations. Essentially, a Yehudi is the trailing edge portion of the often bulbous part of the airplane that stores the main landing gear when retracted. Usually found on transport/cargo aircraft that have a high wing. Here is a short blurb on where the name came from:

Apparently known as a “Yehudi”, this inboard trailing edge extension actually first appeared on the Boeing B-29 to solve a fuselage-nacelle interference problem. Douglas used it first on a swept wing transport on the D went to the -320 model.The name was first used to describe the wind tunnel part that was made on the spot during the wind tunnel test. “Who’s Yehudi” was a running gag on a popular radio show at the time, as well as the name of a popular violinist.

Here is a picture of a C141's Yehudi (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?)
So, this obviously completes tonight's title: Friends, Family, and Yehudi...

On my way back home, i stopped off at another friend's (Ann Marie) apartment to chat since i was in the neighborhood.

Well, that about sums up my Wednesday. Wednesday has turned into Thursday while i was constructing this post. Why am I still up, you ask? Well, i'm working on a strategy to sleep shift for the upcoming STS116/12A.1 Shuttle launch that is supposed to take place in about 16 hours, weather permitting. If we delay, i'll be wide awake in the middle of the night...oh what am i going to do with my time??? Perhaps you'll get another long post from me??

I hope you learned something from this post...hehe...Good evening/morning...